Fresh statements from at least two witnesses helped police "tie pieces of the puzzle together" before the 70-year-old was taken into custody on the Gold Coast on Wednesday.

Some of the additional material surfaced as a result of the Australian newspaper's investigative podcast The Teacher's Pet.

Read more: Chris Dawson arrested over death of wife Lynette

Ms Dawson was 33 when she went missing from Sydney's northern beaches in January 1982 leaving behind two young daughters.

In 2010, Nowra resident and relative of Lynette, Graeme Dudgeon began circulating a petition calling for the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) to reopen the case and hopefully launch a prosecution.

Detectives from the NSW homicide squad began reinvestigating her suspected murder in 2015, and called on the DPP to review their brief of evidence in April this year.

On Wednesday, Mr Dudgeon welcomed the news of Mr Dawson’s arrest. 

“This has been a terribly long and enormous battle for the family close to her and there is still a long way to go,” he said. 

“But this is an opportunity for them to see justice and closure,” he said. 

Chris, a former Newtown Jets rugby league player and high school teacher, has long been a suspect in the case but denies any involvement in his wife's disappearance.

Police say he was "calm and a little bit taken aback" when arrested on Wednesday. 

The NSW Coroner has twice found that Mr Dawson most likely killed his wife, but the DPP declined to prosecute due to a lack of evidence.

While Lynette’s body has never been found, Detective Superintendent Scott Cook said investigators were confident in the strength of their case.

"There are other examples in policing history and history of the courts where people have been convicted of murder without a body," he said. 

On Wednesday afternoon, Mr Dawson’s application for bail was denied. He will be taken into custody by New South Wales detectives and extradited to Sydney.

-With AAP.